NOAA awards $99M for salmon recovery as federal budget again targets program for elimination

NOAA Fisheries has announced a $99 million U.S. federal grant allocation to states and Tribal governments through the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund to restore West Coast salmon and steelhead populations, even as the program faces renewed federal efforts to eliminate it. Operating under the shadow of proposed budget cuts that would fully defund the initiative, the funding will support habitat restoration and protection efforts critical to the long-term health of the fisheries and Tribal economies. Since 2000, the program has funded 16,000 projects restoring 1.2 million acres of spawning and rearing habitat.